Beachgoers help track Hobart’s changing coastline

A TRIP to the beach can now help scientists better understand Hobart’s changing coastline, with new CoastSnap stations installed at Cornelian Bay and Nutgrove Beach.
The stations allow beachgoers to use their phones to take precisely positioned photographs of the shoreline before uploading them using a QR code or the free CoastSnap app.
Each image becomes part of a national coastal monitoring database containing tens of thousands of photographs from beaches around Australia.
Scientists and climate researchers can use the images to track how coastlines change over time in response to factors including rising sea levels, extreme storms, waves and tidal activity.
CoastSnap uses a simple phone cradle that ensures every photograph is taken from exactly the same position and captures the same section of shoreline.
As more photographs are submitted, they create a time-lapse record showing how individual beaches erode and recover under changing conditions.
The program began on Sydney’s Northern Beaches and has since expanded internationally, with more than 600 monitoring stations across 35 countries.
Hobart’s two stations have been placed at beaches where coastal changes are already of particular interest.
Nutgrove Beach was selected because some of Hobart’s most evident coastal changes are already taking place in the area.
Cornelian Bay was chosen because it is considered Hobart’s beach most vulnerable to the impacts of sea level rise, waves and tidal action.
Over time, photographs submitted at Cornelian Bay will also help show differences in erosion between the section of beach protected by the stone wall and areas without the same protection.
Beachgoers visiting either location are encouraged to place their phone in the CoastSnap station, take a photograph and upload it, turning a simple beach snap into useful information for researchers monitoring Australia’s changing coastlines.